2021 Toyota Owners 400

Race details[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Race 9 of 36 in the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series
Date	April 18, 2021 (2021-04-18)
Location	Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia
Course	Permanent racing facility 0.75 mi (1.2 km)
Distance	400 laps, 300 mi (480 km)
Average speed	96.282 miles per hour (154.951 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Martin Truex Jr.	Joe Gibbs Racing
Grid positions set by competition-based formula
Most laps led
Driver	Denny Hamlin	Joe Gibbs Racing
Laps	207
Winner
No. 48	Alex Bowman	Hendrick Motorsports
Television in the United States
Network	Fox
Announcers	Mike Joy, Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer
Nielsen Ratings	3.315 million[7]
Radio in the United States
Radio	MRN
Booth Announcers	Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace
Turn Announcers	Dave Moody (Backstretch)

The 2021 Toyota Owners 400 was a NASCAR Cup Series race held on April 18, 2021, at Richmond Raceway in Richmond, Virginia. Contested over 400 laps on the 0.75 mile (1.2 km) asphalt short track, it was the ninth race of the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series season.

Report

Background

Richmond Raceway is a 3/4-mile (1.2 km), D-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series. Known as "America's premier short track", it formerly hosted a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, an IndyCar Series race, and two USAC sprint car races.

Entry list

• (R) denotes rookie driver.
• (i) denotes driver who are ineligible for series driver points.

Qualifying

Martin Truex Jr. was awarded the pole for the race as determined by competition-based formula.^[4]

Starting Lineup

Race

Martin Truex Jr. was awarded the pole. Truex, along with Denny Hamlin dominated, but Hamlin won both stages and led the most laps. Ryan Newman and Kevin Harvick both spun into the wall after having flat tires. Hamlin continued his domination, but would be passed for the lead by Alex Bowman, who recovered from an uncontrolled tire penalty, with ten laps to go and Bowman pulled away for his third career Cup Series victory and taking the 48 to victory lane for the first time since Jimmie Johnson at Dover in 2017.

Stage Results

Stage One Laps: 80

Stage Two Laps: 155

Final Stage Results

Stage Three Laps: 165

Race statistics

• Lead changes: 20 among 7 different drivers
• Cautions/Laps: 5 for 39
• Red flags: 0
• Time of race: 3 hours, 6 minutes and 57 seconds
• Average speed: 96.282 miles per hour (154.951 km/h)

Media

Television

Fox Sports covered their 20th race at the Richmond Raceway. Mike Joy, two-time Richmond winners Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer called the race from the broadcast booth. Jamie Little and Regan Smith handled pit road for the television side. Larry McReynolds provided insight from the Fox Sports studio in Charlotte.

Radio

MRN had the radio call for the race which was simulcasted on Sirius XM NASCAR Radio. Alex Hayden, Jeff Striegle and Rusty Wallace called the race in the booth when the field raced down the frontstretch. Dave Moody called the race from a platform inside the backstretch when the field races down the backstretch. Steve Post and Jason Toy worked pit road for the radio side.

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 Denny Hamlin 434 2 Martin Truex Jr. 353 (–81) 3 Joey Logano 352 (–82) 2 4 William Byron 310 (–124) 5 Ryan Blaney 304 (–130) 2 6 Kyle Larson 299 (–135) 7 Chase Elliott 285 (–149) 8 Kevin Harvick 273 (–161) 9 Brad Keselowski 269 (–165) 10 Christopher Bell 257 (–177) 11 Kyle Busch 245 (–189) 12 Austin Dillon 239 (–195) 4 13 Alex Bowman 236 (–198) 1 14 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. 222 (–212) 15 Kurt Busch 214 (–220) 2 16 Chris Buescher 204 (–230) Official driver's standings

Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos Manufacturer Points 2 1 Chevrolet 325 1 2 Ford 322 (–3) 1 3 Toyota 322 (–3) Note: Only the first 16 positions are included for the driver standings. . – Driver has clinched a position in the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs.